Cardinal Burke's Septuagesima Thoughts

Ash Wednesday is Approaching... Are You Ready?

“What am I going to do this Lent to draw closer to God in prayer? What am I going to do this lent to purify my life of things that are sinful?” Cardinal Burke prompts us to ask ourselves for the intense period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving during Lent.

In the video above, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke mentions Septuagesima as something that was practiced in the past and encourages his flock to renew this custom. We traditional Catholics still observe this season of preparation for Lent. Listen to Cardinal Burke’s inspiring thoughts and consider perusing the “Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe” website. They also have a YouTube channel.

Beautiful Land Transformation in Africa

Inside Africa's Food Forest Mega-Project

“Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys with the UN World Food Programme to the country of Niger in the African Sahel to see an innovative land recovery project within the Great Green Wall of Africa that is harvesting rainwater, increasing food security, and rehabilitating the ecosystem.”

Above is a 14-minute video that will make you smile. Look at the sense of joy and community these people now have. This is what we mean by “The Authentic Life.” Notice any smartphones?

There’s so much to learn here!

Christmas Meditation from "Advent of the Heart" with PDF

Well, we’re getting this out on the trad feast of the Epiphany, better late than never! It has been quite a project going through the entire book and extricating the “best” quotes (which is hard to do because every sentence is genius). My best advice is: read the book! But it is not for the faint-hearted and if you want an intellectual challenge, you got it.

According to the traditional Liturgical Calendar, Christmastide began the evening of December 24th with the Mass discussed below. This is not the Midnight Mass, it is the vigil. Christmastide extends until the octave of Epiphany, at which time we enter Time After Epiphany, which extends till Septuagesima (technically Lent). The Cycle of Christmas, when we meditate upon the Incarnation, extends from Advent to Septuagesima, when we begin our meditation upon the Redemption. Christmas celebration, according to my pastor, generally goes until the Feast of the Presentation, February 2nd, as this is last of the major feasts of the Cycle of Christmas.

There is supplemental Advent material in the book, which I will be completing for you, just to be thorough, with PDFs. Then we will have a complete study of Advent of the Heart, which should be used in conjunction with the book. This can be for family or church use. I was unsuccessful in establishing an Advent prayer group this past year, but will try again next year. In fact, I hope to be having regular Nomen Christi meetings by then. If you are local, please get on our email list, so we can contact you! Meetings will be held in the mid-Long Island area.

ADVENT OF THE HEART

+   Christmas Meditation ~ Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr   +

Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times.  All quotes below are from the Christmas Vigil Tridentine Mass, along with commentary written in Tegel Prison, Berlin, 1944, shortly before Fr. Delp’s martyrdom…

Opening Psalm:

“This day you shall know that the Lord will come, and save us: and in the morning you shall see His glory.”

“This means, first, quite simply the nearness of the holy day, the relationship between the Vigil Mass and Christmas Day.  However, it also means a continuing condition, a basic principle of our lives…Man wants so much to regard the known as if it were the final answer, and to feel at home there and settle himself firmly…Man must keep going, keep traveling toward life’s prize…This [text] evokes a creative and healing restlessness in us, to which we are indebted for everything that is authentic and fully alive…And now, at the gates of The Christmas mystery, through which we want to enter as though it were the rediscovered Paradise, the same motif will come into play…You have heard and understood the message…You should set out toward the tangible fulfillment and encounter.  Here too, is the old tension.  Here, too, is the principle of archery: the bow can be drawn only when the archer bears the burden… “

Collect (prayer prior to Epistle):

“O God, Who dost gladden us by the yearly expectation of our redemption, grant that we, who now joyfully receive Thine only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also without fear behold Him coming as our Judge, even the same Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son.”

“…the liturgy rescues the image of the incarnate God from the danger of being seen as delicate and innocuous…we are reminded that the Child at whose coming we are rejoicing is the future Judge of our lives.  These smiling eyes of the Child will someday focus on us in mature, solemn examination and judgment.”

Epistle, Romans 1:1:

“…the Gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was made to Him of the seed of David according to the flesh: who was predestinated the Son of God in power according to the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead: by whom we have received grace, and apostleship for obedience to the faith in all nations…”

“As the Epistle…intones, [of the seed of David according to the flesh]…It is the incomprehensible fact of God entering into history, that He stepped into our law, into our space, into our existence, and not only like one of us, bus as one of us…Paul says of this relationship to Christ, [by whom we have received grace, and apostleship for obedience to the faith in all nations]…All encounters with God challenge His creatures to response and mission.”

Post-Communion:

“We beseech Thee, O Lord, grant us fresh courage [or breath, respirare in Latin], as we celebrate the birthday of Thine only-begotten Son: Whose heavenly Mystery is our food and drink.”

“…we will seldom pray a word so earnestly, honestly, and longingly as this respirare asking for breath at the close of the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass: Lord, give us breath.  Let us draw a deep breath because the stones have fallen from our hearts, because life is on solid ground again…here we have arrived at the heights upon which the respirare, the sigh of relief, the new breath, can happen…The world continues on its course, but it has become the barque of the Lord God that no storm can overturn and no flood can tear asunder.”

 FR. DELP’S CHRISTMAS MEDITATION PRINTABLE PDF

We Don't Usually Do This...

BUT…

LifeSite News Really Needs Our Help!

Please consider giving Christmas alms to this very important bastion of faith and freedom. From their site:

“We are now in RED ALERT! We are halfway through our winter campaign and have only raised 35% of the goal. We need to raise 65% more to keep LifeSiteNews’ truth-telling voice online. Please chip in TODAY to help us continue our mission.”

See above link and God bless you!

December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception

How exciting!  We enter a new Liturgical Year, the Season of Advent and the traditional Cycle of Christmas, when we meditate upon the Mystery of the Incarnation.  Unlike our cultural norms of indulgence and attending party after party, we who devoutly observe Advent, know this is a time of preparation and waiting.  We do not celebrate until Christ is born.  Until then, we make ourselves ready by performing penance and good deeds.  Joy is always greater when there has been some discipline preceding the event.

We commemorate the Divine Infancy this month as we prepare to celebrate Our Blessed Lord’s Nativity.  As well, we honor Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the United States of America.  With all the need presently in this country, let us flee to her in prayer, beseeching many graces.  The feast of the Immaculate Conception remains on December 8th in the trad calendar.  In the new, it has been transferred to the 9th and is a Holy Day of Obligation. 

Where can you get a good 2025 liturgical calendar?  At Nomen Christi Apostolate, we represent unity between traditional Catholics and those who attend the Novus Ordo.  Therefore we look at both calendars and when composing these monthly reviews, refer to both.  Admittedly, this can be confusing.  We recommend you choose the calendar you prefer and have it in your home to advise you of feasts each month…or hang both calendars!  Many parishes distribute calendars for free.  As for a trad calendar, here's a good one, which will also support the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter:

Fraternity Publications 2025 Liturgical Calendar

Let us remember the Ember Days of Advent on the 18th, 20th and 21st.  This is great time to do Christmas crafts with children, incorporating winter themes.  Encouraging children to perform acts of charity on these days would also be in keeping with the penitential character of the Ember Days, along with Advent.

A most Blessed Christmas and Christmas Season to all!

SAINT ANDREW CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born
of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee,
O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires
through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ,
and of His blessed Mother.

Amen.

November Plenaries from the 1st to the 8th...Prepare for Them!

From Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary:

PLENARY INDULGENCE

An indulgence that can remove all the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgence is actually gained, because only He knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate. One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.

From the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s Holy Cross Chaplaincy:

Six General Rules for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence

1. State of grace…when performing the indulgenced act

2. Complete detachment from sin, even venial sin

3. Confession (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

4. Communion (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

5. Prayers for the Supreme Pontiff (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)

6. Indulgenced Act: a special good work with…conditions of place and time

Indulgenced Acts to be Performed for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence for the Poor Souls of Purgatory

• From November 1 to 8: visit of a cemetery with mental prayer for the poor souls

• On November 2: visit of a church or an oratory with one Our Father and one Creed being recited

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Solar Flares, Etc.

SOLAR FLARE WARNING CONTINUES: We saw the red aurora last night on Long Island, quite beautiful. But it also feels like a sign from God. It seems similar to the red aurora seen just prior to WWII, as Our Lady of Fatima predicted. Let us all ask for mercy and peace…and continue to pray for those in need after these 2 recent hurricanes in the US. For live updates of the solar condition: Space Weather Prediction Center Please also see our recommendations we posted during the last solar storm: Coronal Mass Ejections…

END OF SEASON GARDEN SUPPLIES! Think about taking advantage of end-of-season sales at your local garden/outdoor center. I just bought 17 seed packets and a new fire pit, that I saved $200 on! I also bought some popsicle sticks. They are great for marking plants. You can get huge boxes at craft stores.

CHECK OUT DISASTER PREPARER. You can get Electromagnetic Pulse products, books, electronic privacy items, audio books and videos.

FOR ALL YOU WOODWORKERS! Check out Highland Woodworking, Fine Tools & Education. My hubby is an unplugged carpenter hobbyist (thank goodness, if he worked with power tools, I would have a nervous breakdown) and buys from them. Have a look at their website for sales, catalog, newsletter, classes, library, blog, TV show, job opportunities, books and DVDs. Is that enough? If you’re just thinking about taking up wood crafts, this is a great place to get started! (Christmas is coming, encourage someone you know to develop this important sustainable skill with a simple gift such as a book or DVD-Saint Joseph will be very pleased.)

National Farmer's Day, Saturday, October 12th

National Farmer’s Day is this coming Saturday, in the US.  Those who produce our food with responsibility and hard work are so important to the human family and deserve the utmost respect.  Unfortunately, they are now being attacked in America and Europe by the globalists who wish to re-write civilization.  Farmers need our support and prayer. If you can’t celebrate this weekend, it would be fine to extend these ideas to the remainder of the month…the farmers won’t mind!

From the Old Farmer’s Almanac:

“This is a day to honor and thank all of the hardworking farmers and ranchers who plow, sow, grow, and harvest to feed our nation. We especially rely on farmers to get fresh food on our tables during these uncertain times. Let’s pay tribute to the men, women, and families who put food in the grocery stores and on our tables every day.”

From National Day Calendar:

“October does seem fitting for celebrating this National Day as it is near the end of the harvest. Many farmers will be able to take a rest from their hard labor to join in the celebration of this holiday.”

Also see: National Days in Agriculture and Successful Farming with a look at the American history of farming.

Okay, let’s see what ideas I can come up on how to celebrate this day, off the top of my head. I’m going to try to squeeze 10 ideas out of my brain. I did not say they would be good ones.  Try to come up with your own!

1. Take your children pumpkin picking or apple picking or something picking.

2. Do farming-related crafts.

3. Watch videos about farmers.

4. Stick food in water and see what happens.

5. Learn about farming history. Homeschoolers, take a look at the link above, for an easy lesson.

6. Teach children about botany.

7. Organize something to honor local farmers. Maybe work with your Town Hall.

8. Play farm animal sounds for your dog.

9. Get a farming book out of the library.

10. Do a presentation at your local school or church about farming.

But most of all, appreciate the blessings of abundance you have, through the hard labor and discipline of our farmers:)

SAINT ISIDORE THE FARMER, PRAY FOR US!

An Attack on Farmers is an Attack on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!

A Few Things...

I recently met a lovely man at church. We talked a bit, and he emailed me a poem he wrote. He is a secular Franciscan and belongs to the Knights of Columbus on Long Island. Here is his beautiful poem…

Saint Therese of Lisieux

Your beauty got under my skin, not like a knife, razor or nails

But like tea with honey and lemon, something stimulating, sweet and sharp

It's like you hit me by remote control and pushed buttons without pushing a button

Your beauty is big, like a forcefield that animates joy

And it is little too, like the gleam in sparkling blue eyes, the kind that animates life

If love makes the world go round, is it not true your beauty is being chaste?

Is it not true a question begins with a quest?

This is my response to the question of your beauty

I give the white rose

By Clifford Proctor

~ ~ ~

Charles Dowding “No Dig” Gardening

This guy is amazing.  Start with the 2 minute video on the Home page which shows Dowding's idyllic farm in South Somerset, England.  This site contains a wealth of resources including courses, books and a shop.  Dowding has pioneered cutting edge gardening research, to create simpler methods that anyone can do.  Have a look!

~ ~ ~

“I think it's down to radical non-compliance and what we can do with our own actions and behaviors.”

Aaron Day

~ ~ ~

This is an excerpt from an article at Zero Hedge, by Tyler Durden, from May 2024.  It’s still quite relevant…and concerning.  This isn’t only being done for political purposes, it is part of the move toward green energy.  This sounds great on the surface, but it is being used as a tool to reduce freedom and create a total surveillance grid of energy consumption.  Some might say this is necessary.  Yes, a gradual scaling back is necessary, but defying human rights in the ways the globalists intend to, is unnecessary, cruel and immoral.  Covid was only the beginning…

Biden Drains Entire Northeast Gasoline Reserve In Bid To Lower Gas Prices

“Back in March, when reading the mammoth, 1050-page bill that was meant to avert government shutdown…we stumbled upon something that was truly shocking: after Biden singlehandedly drained half of the US strategic petroleum reserve to avoid obliteration for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections, Congress has snuck in a provision that would sell off and shutter the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, a move that while perhaps keeps gas prices lower for a day or two, would also leave the entire continental northeast defenseless to any true environmental catastrophe or shock. We were so dismayed by the inclusion of this particular text, we wondered if it hadn't been put there solely for the benefit of America's enemies...because surely nobody in their right mind, not even the illegitimate senile occupant of the White House, would ever pursue such short-term gains at the expense of potentially disastrous long-term consequences to the entire nation.

We were wrong: earlier today, just two months after the bill was signed by Biden into law, the panicking administration announced that it would sell the nearly 1 million barrels of gasoline in the US managed stockpile in northeastern states, the Department of Energy said, effectively closing the reserve.

The department created the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR) in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy left motorists scrambling for fuel. But, according to some megabrains hoping to justify the dumping of gas so its price drops for a few weeks ahead of the summer and avoid even more anger aimed at the President, storing refined fuel is costlier than storing crude oil, so closing the reserve was included in U.S funding legislation signed by President Joe Biden in March.”

Tracy Thurman: Food & Medical Freedom Advocate

[Edited since posting.]

From Brownstone Institute, a post-Covid freedom advocacy organization:

“Tracy Thurman is an advocate for regenerative farming, food sovereignty, decentralized food systems, and medical freedom. She works with the Barnes Law Firm's public interest division to safeguard the right to purchase food directly from farmers without government interference.”

Articles by Tracy Thurman

Topics center on the globalist’s agenda involving food and how we can work toward greater freedom and safety.

Below, Chris Martenson interviews Thurman-it’s a fabulous discussion, well-worth the 2 hours of viewing. It took me about 2 weeks to get through it with my busy schedule, but I learned so much, including the potential healing properties of raw milk. From Martenson’s notes:

“In this critical interview, Tracy Thurman recounts her front-line experiences working with Robert Barnes to help protect the nearly relentless assaults on Amish farmers by a deeply corrupt Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture coupled to an equally corrupt PA court system.”

Tracy Thurman: The War on Food (and on the Amish, and Farmers)

Here are some insightful quotes by Tracy from the interview:

“I came back to a place of faith through witnessing evil, and concluding that if

evil with a capital E exists, so must good with a capital G,

and that I needed to look for it.”

“If something is already filling the God-shaped hole in your life, it’s very hard for the state to become your God.”

“The control grid is built before it’s turned on.”

“I want to support the farmers who are giving me this incredible blessing of health.”

“Stop eating processed food. It’s poison and it’s becoming more poisonous. Get to know your food and your farmer. See if you can find a local supply. Be intentional about what you eat. Build a local community and start considering how you can set up payments for transaction with your farmer outside of the credit card or digital system because at some point that is going to be shut down for anyone who is a dissident raising healthy food outside the corporate system…

but the two most important things are find your community and find your farmer.”

~ ~ ~

Sometimes when I say Grace, I ask God to bless all those who had a hand in getting the food to my table. Thinking about this, I realize how many thousands of people are involved in our food system and how unnatural that is. A society requires balance between the local and the wider network. You can’t rely entirely on local, in the event that a disaster occurs. You also can’t rely entirely on complex systems which are by their nature, vulnerable (Martenson often talks about the unpredictable nature of complex systems and how disruptions can have a domino effect). All sorts of things can interrupt supply chains and recently, we are seeing more of that. The reasons are varied. With increasing geopolitical tensions, this is now an even greater concern. You may say (just an example), “Oh, we can get our food from California.” What about the trucks that need parts made in other countries? What if California suffers a major earthquake? There are so many things that can go wrong in our highly interdependent, fossil fuel dependent system. These natural resources are depleting, while population continues to grow and the non-Western world is starting to want its piece of the pie. Maybe we’re starting to hone in on why the globalists want their “Great Reset.” Is it all about resources?

Will green energy save the day? Well, it has its limitations. At this time, green is not even remotely capable of doing what oil, gas and coal can do, and is itself, dependent on these resources (see the work of another great mover and shaker SIMON MICHAUX). Perhaps a gradual transition to green is possible, but I don’t think it will be without concessions.

In the end, nature will have her way. In the end, the Authentic Life, the life God meant us to live, must return. This is His world and we are His children. As a society, we have a lot to think about going forward…and we need extremely competent leadership that is willing to make tough decisions.